39C – Day of Pentecost

CALL TO WORSHIP(from Ps. 104:33-35)
Come and worship the God of all creationI will sing to the LORD all my lifeand celebrate my God with music as long as I live.
Come and worship the God who gave you breathMay my meditation please the LORD,as I have delighted in the LORD God.
Bless the LORD, O my soul.Hallelujah!

ADORATION AND CONFESSION (from Psalm 104:1-9)
Great and gracious Lord God
arrayed in glory and majesty,we praise you and bless you.
Creating God,
you stretched out the heavens like a tentand set your dwelling place over the water
You are carried on the clouds, and on the wings of the wind;the winds are your messengers, and flaming fire your servants.
You set the earth on its foundations,never to be moved.
The deep waters covered even the mountains,but at your voice they fled,
coming to rest where you had appointed,beyond the boundary you set,never to cover the earth again.
Bless the LORD, O my soul.O LORD, my God, you are very great.
Your works are many and variedand in wisdom you have made everything.

Loving God,
in our human condition you know who we are, and what we are;you know our awkwardness with ourselves, with each other,
and with you.(silence)
Help our unbelief;give us the boldness, by the presence of your Spirit,to believe in your possibilities for us;in Jesus’ name. Amen.

PRAYER OF ADORATION AND CONFESSION(from Ps. 104:24-31)
O LORD, how many things there are that you have made!In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is filled with your creatures.
And there is the sea, vast and stretching in all directions,teeming with creatures beyond number;living things both small and great.
Ships go there, and the largest of creatures which you fashioned to play in it.All of them look to you in hope to give them their food as they need it
You give to them, they gather it up;You open your hand, their needs are more than satisfied.
You hide your face, they are terrified;You take away their breath, they die and revert to the dust from which they came.
You send forth your breath; they are created;and you give new life to the land.
You look at the earth and it trembles.You touch the mountains and they pour out smoke.
May your glory endure forever, LORD God;may you find joy in all that you have made.

LORD God, your love for us is everlasting…There are times when we are too ready
to see what is wrong with our world,
when we might have embraced change in our own lives(silence)There are times when we are too ready
to help others pick up the broken pieces in their lives,
when we might have sat down and wept with them.(silence)There are times when we are too ready
to trust our own endeavours
when we might have waited on your Spirit,(silence)
Loving God,
in our human condition you know who we are, and what we are;you know our awkwardness with ourselves, with each other,
and with you.
(silence)
help our unbelief;give us the boldness, by the presence of your Spirit,
to believe in your possibilities for us,
in Jesus’ name. Amen

OFFERINGGenerous holy mystery we call God,
on this day, of all days,
we bring our gifts and our living.
Laugh with us, and weep with us, O God,
as we dare to believe that what we offer
can be part of your dreams for the world.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

A CREATIVE MOMENT Click here for some additional Pentecost worship resources gleaned from the pages of “On the Move” (now out of print), published by the Joint Board of Christian Education, Melbourne, Australia.

THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE(A prayer to gather the spoken and silent concerns/joys/thanks expressed by the congregation and lead into a more structured Intercession with connection to the lections for the day. Sometimes this prayer borrows lightly from other sources e.g. Uniting in Worship 2 or publications of the Iona Community.)

Holy and lively Spirit of grace,
mystery of God;
rejoice with those who rejoice and give thanks today,
draw near to those who are weighed down with grief
and comfort those whose troubles are known only to you
for the sake of Jesus
whose way of loving we would follow
and in whose name we pray…(The Prayers of the People continue)